Other Words for Portray: Depict, Represent, Render

Essays, reviews and reports use one verb a great deal: portray. The author portrays a hero, the film portrays a war, the advertisement portrays a family. Once you notice it, you see it everywhere, and so will your reader. Learners often repeat portray because it is safe. The other verbs in its group are not interchangeable, though, and each one adds a little. This guide shows what portray does, which words sit near it, and how to choose among them.

What portray means

Wiktionary lists several senses of the verb portray. The first is to paint or draw someone's likeness, as in a portrait of a king on horseback. The others build on it: to represent something figuratively through an image or appearance, to describe something in words, and to play a role or depict a character, person, situation or event, for example an actor in a film. The word came into English from Middle French portraire, and it is related to portrait and portrayal.

So portray sits between art and writing. It always has a subject (the person or thing shown) and a way of showing it (a painting, a speech, a performance). When you pick a synonym, check both.

Depict

Depict is the closest synonym. Wiktionary defines it as representing something using words, sounds, images or other means, and it lists portray among its synonyms. The subjects of the verb can be words, music or images. It came into English from Latin, from a verb meaning to paint.

• The mural depicts a market scene.
• The report depicts a company in decline.

The difference is small. Portray often suggests a person or a point of view, with a hint of interpretation: the film portrays him as a hero. Depict is a little more neutral and visual: the film depicts a battle. If you are describing what a picture or a text shows, depict is the safer choice. If you are describing how someone is shown or judged, portray fits better.

Represent

Represent means to stand for something, or to be a symbol or an example of it.

• The dove represents peace.
• The graph represents sales by month.

Use it when the subject is a symbol, a sign or a stand-in. A painting portrays a king, but the crown in it represents power. Represent is also used for a person who speaks for others: the union represents the workers.

Characterize and describe

Characterize means to describe the qualities of a person or thing, or to be a typical feature of it. Describe is the plain verb for putting something in words.

• The author characterizes the leader as stubborn but fair.
• The study characterizes the group by age and income.
• She described the scene in a few sentences.

These are useful in analysis. They suggest that you are listing qualities, not showing a scene. If you write the novel portrays the leader as stubborn, you are saying how the leader appears. If you write the novel characterizes the leader as stubborn, you are saying what traits the author gives them.

Play, embody and present

When the subject is an actor, there are more choices.

• Play: the ordinary verb for taking a role. She plays a detective.
• Portray: a little more formal. He portrays a doctor in the series.
• Embody: to be a perfect example of something, or to give it a form. The character embodies hope.
• Present and cast as: often used in reviews. The film presents her as an outsider. He is cast as a villain.

In everyday speech, play is natural. Portray is the usual choice in formal writing and reviews.

Render, capture and paint

Some verbs focus on the skill of the artist or writer.

• Render: to give a visual or verbal form to something, often with technical skill. The artist rendered the face in fine detail.
• Capture: to record or express the essence of something. The photograph captures the mood of the city.
• Paint and sketch: used figuratively for describing. The book paints a bleak picture of the town. The article sketches the main arguments.
• Illustrate: to show or explain with examples or images. The chart illustrates the trend.

These words imply craft. Capture and render suggest success, so use them when you want to praise how well something is shown.

Word forms and partners

Learn the family together, because it gives you more ways to write the same idea.

• Verb: portray, portrays, portraying, portrayed.
• Nouns: portrayal (the act or the result), portrait (an image of a person).
• Verb to noun: depict leads to depiction, represent to representation, characterize to characterization.

Common partners include portray as (a person is portrayed as a victim), portray accurately, unfairly portrayed and a realistic portrayal. For the way nouns grow out of verbs, the guide to nominalization explains the endings.

Choosing the right word

Using these words well

• Vary the verb, but keep it exact. Replacing portray with a word that means something else makes the sentence worse.
• Pair with evidence. In an essay, say how it is shown: the opening scene depicts the family at dinner, and the silence between them portrays a marriage in trouble.
• Watch the prepositions. Portray as is the usual pattern (portrayed as a victim). For help with small words like these, the guide to prepositions covers them.
• Match the register. Portray, depict and characterize suit academic writing. Paint a picture suits popular writing. The academic vocabulary guide has more of this register.

Practice set

Choose the best word: depict, portray, represent, characterize, capture.

1. The painting ______ a village in winter.
2. The film ______ the manager as cold but fair.
3. In the story, the fox ______ cleverness.
4. The researcher ______ the group by age and income.
5. Her photograph ______ the quiet of the early morning.
6. Which noun comes from portray: portrayal or portrait?

Answers: 1. depicts (a neutral picture). 2. portrays (a viewpoint). 3. represents (a symbol). 4. characterizes (lists qualities). 5. captures (expresses the essence). 6. Portrayal is the noun from the verb. Portrait is a related word for an image.

Making it stick

Choose one verb from the group to learn each week, and use it in a sentence about something you have read or watched. Review the earlier ones as they come due, as how spaced repetition works describes. After a few weeks, the choice between portray and depict will feel natural.

How Wordabulary fits in

Wordabulary finds your level with a placement assessment, then gives you practice and quizzes matched to it. Word pages for portray and depict show the definition, an example sentence and related forms.